


A Haunted Affair

by jennfics



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, future!fic, holiday tag: Halloween, spoilers up to 3.01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-03-14 21:00:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3425420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jennfics/pseuds/jennfics





	A Haunted Affair

Felicity Smoak loves greeting cards. She spends more time than the average person (at least she thinks so) in choosing the perfect card to send. Sometimes, she'll make a purchase on a whim without anyone in particular in mind if a card catches her eye. There's a box in the second drawer of the desk in her spare room filled with cards she's found over the years. Most of them, she's hesitant to admit, are cards written for lovers or husbands with sentimental declarations and sweet sayings. A few of these cards have been in the box for years, never having found a suitable recipient. To some, this might seem like a desperate act of a single, lonely woman searching for love and marriage but finding only heartache. But for Felicity, these cards give her hope. When she opens the box and peruses through her collection, she allows herself a few quiet moments to imagine the person worthy of them _and_ _her_.

 

She can see so clearly a Valentine's Day card left next to the coffee pot with her loopy writing across the front, envelope sealed with a bright pink kiss. A "just because I love you" card stuck in the recipient's desk blotter, again with her lips imprinted on the seam. There's a Hanukah card by the menorah, and a Christmas card nestled between the branches of their tree because in their home all traditions are welcome. Perhaps clearest of all is the birthday card, left on his pillow with an inscription of loving words, thankfulness, and gratitude for the life of this person who holds her heart.

 

For several years now, each time she imagines the envelope there is only one name written across the front.

 

_Oliver_

 

\---

 

Halloween is Felicity's favorite holiday. Costumes, candy, ghouls, and all things delightfully scary have her decorating her apartment the morning of October First. She pulls out her favorite bits and baubles, carefully and thoughtfully arranging them around each room for different effects. She even brings a few small decorations to the lair, a glittery spider for her desk, several painted pumpkins, and a bright orange and black garland to wrap the hand rail for the stairs.

 

Most importantly, she heads to her favorite card shopping spot to pick out cards for her team. She mails one to John and Lyla, but addressed to "Sara Diggle." There's a fuzzy monster with googly eyes on the front, and she litters the envelope in stickers and tiny ghosts she draws by hand. She mails Roy his, too; and she smiles wide when she sees it taped on the side of his bow's cabinet. After several minutes of internal debate, she decides to send one to Laurel at her office; a simple card that she signs only as "F" and leaves no return address.

 

For Oliver, she chooses another simple card and plans to leave it near his workstation where he sharpens arrows. He's out for patrol, a quiet night considering Halloween is quickly approaching; and she stands with envelope in hand. Just as she's made her way past the med table, there's a commotion over the comms.

 

Three hours later, he's sitting on that table with his legs dangling as she stiches up a half-inch deep knife wound just under his ribcage. The card lays forgotten on her desk and is eventually thrown out with the discarded packaging of the supplies she used and had strewn about haphazardly in the rush to get him patched.

 

\---

 

Not until the morning of Halloween does she remember his card, and for the life of her, she just isn't sure if she left it at his workstation as intended or not. Although, knowing Oliver as she does, she is positive he would have mentioned it. Thanked her, with those soft eyes and almost smile that never fails to cause her breath to hitch.

 

Standing in her bathroom, she looks herself over once in the mirror and adds the finishing touch to her outfit: a small pair of cartoonish pumpkin earrings. Feeling uneasy about not remembering Oliver's card, the thought crosses her mind that the selection at any store will mostly be picked over. There's nothing worse than having to choose a blank card and write in a sentiment to let a person know you didn't have the time to spend in selecting anything special. For whatever reason, her box of cards flashes into her mind. And one card in particular sticks in her memory most.

 

They've tried this before and it ended in tears and distance, months of repair work to maintain some semblance of their partnership. They are in a good place, her and Oliver. There is no need to change the status quo. Except, she purchased this particular card the year before, just a week prior to their disaster date. The Halloween cards had made their way to stores at the tail end of summer. This one had caught her eye and with how well their relationship had been progressing at the time, it felt like a flirtatious dare. One that would pay off, she was sure.

 

But that was then. That was before. But, maybe...

 

"It's time to be brave, Smoak." She encourages her reflection, and she's moving toward the spare room and the card box in the desk before she has a chance to talk herself out of it. The card is inscribed and signed, sealed with her pink lips. She slips it into her purse, and heads out to work feeling for the first time in months like she's stepping into a promising unknown.

 

\---

 

He's in the shower when she grabs her bag and heads out for the night, leaving the card in clear view.

 

Almost an hour passes before he notices the orange envelope with his name written in her familiar scrawl across the front. There's a slight flutter in his chest that he tries to ignore, but the flutter increases to a hard pounding when he turns the card over to open it. The pair of bright pink lips stare back at him, and he slides his finger under the seal with an excitement he hasn't felt in months but _oh,_ _has he missed_.

 

The front of the card has a black and white photograph of a creepy house surrounded by flying bats with a caption that reads:

 

**I THINK WE SHOULD PLAY HAUNTED HOUSE**

 

When he opens the card, he swallows hard and his mouth falls open slightly. The inside caption is enough of an innuendo itself:

 

**IT INVOLVES A LOT OF SCREAMING AND MOANING**

 

But it’s her words written in that leave him stunned. He follows the lines of her decidedly feminine writing, reading then re-reading:

 

_And by screaming and moaning, I mean the adult kind…_

_Just wanted to be clear…_

_In case this wasn’t…_

_Very clear._

 

Her named is signed underneath, with a heart surrounding the capital “F.” And then:

 

_P.S. My bed is more comfortable than your cot._

_P.P.S. You have an apartment now. You need a real bed._

_P.P.S.S. Bring candy corn._

 

His mind immediately begins to race. This is a step forward. No, not a step. A giant leap. He’s not sure the timing is right; and there’s been no discussion of moving past their current status of friendship, even though he won’t deny that he’s thought about it every day since her break up with Ray Palmer almost six months prior.

 

But his feet start to move of their own accord because apparently his heart and not his mind are directing his bodily functions. He’s racing up the stairs, the most important concern he has is probably the least of his actual worries.

 

_Where the hell is he going to find a store open that sells candy corn at this hour?_


End file.
